Werner Köhler

Violin Concerto was Wetz’s final large-scale work, and is one of, if not the best work in this collection. Cast in one movement but divided into four tracks on the CD, it sounds fantastic in the capable hands of Ulf Wallin, who relishes this work’s eloquence. There isn’t a huge amount of virtuoso writing for the soloist, and soaring lyrical shapes are more of a feature. Even the cadenza moments are more like ‘monologue’ passages with the orchestra never entirely receding, but with Wetz’s harmonic richness there is a great deal to get your teeth stuck into with this concerto, and indeed few passages where you have the feeling things could move along a bit quicker.

In this premiere recording, René Jacobs leads a cast of outstanding singers and musicians in a grand production of Georg Philipp Telemann's 'Orpheus.' The manuscripts of this operatic drama were only recently rediscovered and because of some missing material, the version presented here cleverly interpolates other music by Telemann (and his contemporaries) to complete the story.

This luxurious set containing 39 CDs, 3 DVDs, 1 CD-Rom and four detailed booklets will tell you the full story of Baroque opera in Italy, France, England, and Germany. No fewer than 17 complete operas (including two on DVD) and two supplementary CDs (the dawn of opera, Overtures for the Hamburg Opera) provide the most comprehensive overview of the genre ever attempted! The finest performers are assembled here under the direction of René Jacobs and William Christie to offer you 47 hours of music. An opportunity to discover or to hear again the masterpieces of Baroque opera, some of which have been unavailable on CD for many years.